Did I seriously just break my new lens?

I just got a Helios 44-2 in the mail today, attached to an old Zenit SLR. I checked the lens a little bit on the Zenit and it worked fine. The aperture ring is a little wobbly/loose, but it doesn't move unless you're moving it, so not a big deal. The focus rings worked fine. And the glass looks fantastic.

So I unscrewed it from the Zenit, no problem, screwed it into my adapter and attached it to my GH1, and the focus rings absolutely refused to move. They're stuck at .5M. And when I say stuck, I mean STUCK.

My first thought was that it was my new adapter (I've heard of cheap adapters interfering with the movement of the focus rings), so I took it off my camera, took it off the lens, and still nothing. It's not moving.

I'm guessing now that when I removed the lens from the Zenit, I must have been holding onto the focus ring rather than the mount (it's an M42 screwmount). It's not like it came off hard or anything, though...I definitely wouldn't think I twisted on it hard enough to actually break anything.

Did I completely just break my new lens? Or could I take it apart and fix it? I mean, at this point it's not working, so I'm not afraid to take it apart if there's a chance I could fix it. But I don't want to waste my time if it's beyond repair.
 
well, its not a very expensive lens so fix it, or buy a new one. Ill look at mine tonight and see if I can see what screws need to come out, likely you just twisted the ring past its stop point, probably held there by two set screws. To fix maybe these set screws need to be loosened, then reposition the ring, then tighten down.. explains the wobbly bits too..
 
Thanks! I think I can see which screws need to be removed. Now I just need to find a tiny screwdriver (tell me why every store in town is out of eyeglass repair kits?). It wouldn't be such a big deal, except I have no other lenses for my camera (I ordered a body-only). Just frustrating.
 
the old adage, "Haste makes waste" is so freaking true. Had you addressed the wobbly problem first, you would now have a working lens. Micro screw drivers at radio shack and stores like that..

DONT LOSE THE SCREWS!!!


Hers a tip..

Take a foot long piece of masking tape, stick it FACE UP to your working area, desk, table, whatever.. as your remove screws STICK them to the tape from left to right.. you wont lose them, and you have "recorded" the order you took them out..
 
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I fixed it! I figured since it was already broken, I might as well try reversing the process that broke it, so I put it back on the Zenit it came on, and once it was tightly attached, I put steady pressure on the main focus ring, and just as I was about to give up for fear of breaking it worse, it started moving again. I took it back off (much more carefully this time) and put it on my GH1 and it's working great. Still need to address the aperture, but at least it'll focus now. :D
 
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